In taking this year’s Car of the Year title with 414 points out of the 1,450 on offer, Volkswagen’s seventh-generation family hatch amassed more than twice as many points as the second-placed car, the Toyota GT86/Subaru BRZ.

The rest of the field, Volvo’s V40, Ford’s B-Max, Mercedes-Benz’s A-class, Renault’s Clio, Peugeot’s 208 and Hyundai’s i30, followed on respectively. The Golf was the clear winner amongst the 58 judges across 22 European countries.

“I am a little bit proud,” said Ulrich Hackenberg, VW board member responsible for research. “It’s a big honour to get this prize.”

This is the second time the Golf has won the award; the last time was in 1992 with the third-generation model, which amassed 276 points ahead of the Vauxhall Astra and Citroën ZX.